Forced air circulating heater



R. T. PEARCE Nov. 24, 1953 y FORCED AIR CIRCULATING HEATER Filed Feb. 2,1951 w m m A Patented Nov. 24, n1953 UNIT-ED` STATES 'PATENT QFFICE jgesuiti 'y j y YFoxconn AIR tonwUIntrINc. fAa AI tobertl. Pearce, MosesLake, Wash. t n-irp'plisation Fiirary 2, 11951,'seria1-No. v269,054

rolm. (crise-Lnb) The present invention relates to` the broad "class ofheating vappliances and more particularly to a forcedair circulatingheater. Y

'O'ne `object of the invention lies in the provision of an aircirculating heater with a central 'depression or well which has an yairpassage opening into the well at or adjacent its bottom and throughwhich air passage air may enter thewell and upon becoming heated, riseand vpass from -the 4mouth of the well.

`Another object of the invention lies the provision of a motor drivenfan adapted to, force the air into the well; through the Vpassage andthus create a forced circulation of the heated air. Another object oftheinvention is to provide the air passage with an air bale which directs.

provisionl of means for adjusting the 'baille to- 'Wardsand away from aseat at the mouthof the air passage and thus regulate the flow `of air.into the well according to the heat of the well .and thus' precludeover or under heating the walls of the well.

These and other objects of the invention" will become apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which likenumerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a floor type oil furnace embodying myinvention and having a portion of the shell broken away for convenienceof illustration,

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section taken through the furnace as atline 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section showing the exhaustport of the air passage into the well and the adjustable baffle thereof.

Experiments have proven to me that the most economical method ofextracting heat from any given fuel does not lie in the degree ofcombustion only but also in proper disposition of the heat produced bycombustion. It therefore became apparent that the ideal method ofheating, from an economical standpoint, was to maintain the heatingappliance at the proper temperature for good combustion and also removeall of the excess heat by the air. To embodirv zthisinvention in :aworking device, I have provided a floor furnaceV 4 Whichhas the usualAmetal yshell 5 and the -grii which forms'aiousure, for the open top ofthe shell. The Ashell is formed with two side walls 1 and 8,

end walls 9 and la and a bottoni wall Il.

Within the sneu .I have provided metal fire` box .-I2 which is circularin cross. section and is shown` as being an oilburner.v It willbeunderstood that anytyperebox may beusd which is adapted to AanydesiredYtype fuel without changing the essence of my invention. The re boxshown has a `bottom;wall It and an upstanding circular wall [3fdeningthe fire box. Fire clay ld or other suitable heat insulation is-piovided in the bottom ofthe lire boxand aircular vflange i5 isspacedabove the 1topsurface of the re clay and rests upon the upstandingpe-`riphveral edge Ill'fof the nre claymljfl. spaced above the 4fiange 4isa second circular flange `IE5 which is supported upon multiple inwardlykextending rivets `or bosses l1 in the side wall i3 of the re box. Eachof 'the flanges is provided with a central opening as [8 and 19. A fuelsupply tube 2d enters the fire boi; through one side thereof and admitsthe fuel oil from the regulator 2i for combustion, `Asupplypipe 22,enters the shell 5 and supplies the fuel oil to the regulator from astorage tank or source of supply (not shown). An opening or door (notshown) may be provided for lighting the nre or an electric nre startermay be installed.

Adjacent the top of the wall I3 and extending radially therefrom, I haveformed a sleeve 23 which communicates with the nre box and is adapted toenter a regulation size stove pipe length 2li, thus forming the flueconnection to exhaust the smoke and fumes accompanying combustion.

Spaced ico-axial shields 25 and 26 are positioned about the outside ofthe rebox and a natural air passage is thus formed between the wall I3and the inside shield 25. Since the inside shield is preferably formedof metal, it will absorb a quantity of heat, and to prevent this heatfrom being transmitted to the shell 5, the second shield 2t is provided.The top edge of shields 25 and 26 are disposed at an inward angle as at2 to direct the upwardly flowing heated air inwardly instead of allowingit to spread before it is emitted from the top grill.

Suitable brackets as :46 support the shields, re box and a fan 38 fromthe bottom wall Il of the furnace shell 5.

To close the top of the frebox, I have provided a cover 28 formed with acentral well 29 and the well has a hemispherical bottom wall 30 disposedabove the openings I8 and I9 of the crcular flanges I and I6. Anupwardly diverging conical side wall 3| extends from the bottom wall 30and at its upper edge merges into a rolled top 32. The cover 28 thusappears circular when viewed in plan, and the rolled top appearssemicircular when viewed in cross section as shown in Figure 2. The top32 terminates in a downwardly extending outer edge 33 which is providedwith an inwardly offset portion 34 adapted to fit within the fire boxwall I3', and rivets 35 secure the cover 28 to the firebox I2.

Adjacent the bottom wall 30 of the Well 29 and extending radially fromthe well, `a sleeve 36 is pressed outwardly from the wall 3| Aand isadapted to receive a cast pipe or air passage 3'!A which extends from amotor driven fan 38 through fire box I2 and terminates in sleeve 36 ofwell 29. The ail` passage 31 is of such diameter as to t tightly in thesleeve 3B and thus 4 moved, less fuel is used to provide proper roonitemperature.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

In a forced air circulating heater the combination with a re box havingmeans for supplying fuel and a flue communicating with said fire boxadjacent the top thereof for venting smoke and gases and means forsupporting said rebox, of a cover for said fire box, a well in saidcover, a downwardly converging conical inner wall forming the sides ofsaid well, a hemispherical wall forming the bottom of said well. wherebysaid combustion smoke and gases pass upwardly about said well and heatthe walls form an air tight seal between the Well and the Y yshank 42threaded into sleeve 49 is supported thereby and adapted to form avariable or adjustable closure for the air inlet into the well 28. Anangled peripheral edge face 43 is formed on the baffle, and a slot 44 isprovided in its outer face to receive the bit of a screw driver foradjusting the baille towards and away from the seat 45 formed about theinner opening of sleeve 36.

When the fire box is heated, the fan is turned on, and the baille 4I isadjusted to allow the desired amount of air to be forced into the Well,and to be directed by the baille along the surface of the well where itwill absorb the heat and carry it into the room. The well is thus keptat the lowest temperature found effective for adequate combustion offuel in the rire box and since the heat produced is promptly rethereof,a horizontally extending sleeve adjacent thebottom of the well andcommunicating therewith, a motor driven fan positioned outside said rebox, an air duct passing through said re box and terminating in saidsleeve and communicating said fan with said well, a spider on the end ofsaid air duct, an internally threaded sleeve supported by said spiderand having the axis thereof extending substantially radially of saidhemispherical wall, a baille plate, a central depending threaded shankon said baille plate threaded into said threaded sleeve, the peripheralunderface of said baille plate having a bevelled periphery, and a slotin said baille plate, whereby the baffle plate may be adjusted towardand away from a seat about said sleeve to control the volume of airentering said well.

ROBERT T. PEARCE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 388,360 Hill Aug. 21, 1888 457,250 Brayer Aug. 4, 1891 470,727Wattles Mar. 15, 1892 641,772 Heitzelmann Jan 23, 1900 870,686 Reid Nov.12, 1907 2,113,739 Newman Apr. 12, 1938 2,462,395 Heiman Feb. 22, 1949

